Why freestyle?
Freestyle just feels good.
I remember the feeling of awe the first time I saw Per Welinder’s part in Ban This (1989). There was something about the music, something about the flow, something about the way he moved his board.
I loved the feeling of wonder as I watched my dad skate. He seemed to defy the laws of physics as he propelled himself from two wheels.
And I love the feeling when I skate. I love spinning around, hearing my wheels scrape across the floor, and gliding through the air like I’m flying.
Freestyle feels like nothing else and I love it!
Does your dad skate freestyle too?
Yes my dad is definitely a freestyle skater! As a kid I’d love watching him spacewalk (by far my favourite trick) and his WhatsApp profile is teenage him doing a handstand on a board! He’d subject me to watching too many skateboarding films…While I think he’d like to say he taught me everything I know, the honour of best skateboarding teacher would have to go to my sister.
Both you and your dad went to this year’s World Freestyle Skateboarding Championships (WFSC), with you competing in Rookies. Any thoughts you’d like to share on the experience?
IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!!
It was my first time meeting other freestylers and I absolutely loved it!
I loved watching everyone’s runs and I would try to tell everyone my favourite trick from their run! Everyone was super friendly and many of them would then teach me the trick which was awesome! This was a really nice icebreaker for me as there were so many people I wanted to talk to but I didn’t know how to start the conversation.
Actually competing was a lot scarier than I thought it would be (but also a lot more fun). I am the type of person that loves presenting ([i.e.] speaking at Australia’s biggest Hacker conference) and I did a couple of musicals in high school however this was BY FAR the most nerve-racking thing I have done (which I did not expect). My recommendations (but also I am definitely not [a] professional) to anyone wanting to give it a go would be:
- Sign up! The first step in competing is actually signing up. You don’t need a routine or to feel prepared. I hadn’t skated in over a year when I signed up but it was a great motivator to brush up and learn some new tricks!
- Have a routine. I am always skateboarding to music and thought I would just figure it out (I had a series of tricks in mind, I just had to move between them). However this did not go to plan. There is a lot on your mind when competing so the more you can prepare in advance (so you can think less on the day) the better!
- Have fun! Everyone says to have fun but I didn’t know what that meant. To me competing is fun, but is there a way I should be having more fun? A piece of advice I really liked was that competing is a chance to share something different. All my favourite runs were the ones that were the most unique. I felt like I had to do a run with a rail flip, truck stand, casper etc. However I realised this is not the case, just do what you enjoy and leave out the rest.
- Be consistent. Everyone wants to try to show their best tricks, but I can guarantee, the best tricks are the tricks you can land.
Can you tell me what is a Morgan Swaak signature trick or trick class then?
I think my signature trick would definitely be spacewalks (and I can’t believe I didn’t do any in my first run).
It was the trick that got me hooked on freestyle and my favourite trick to show to others (it blows their mind that from standing still you can accelerate on just two wheels).
It also just feels SOOOO GOOD. I said it before but it’s just like flying!
You must have enjoyed all of the spacewalk variations that you saw during June 6-8. What is your dream spacewalk trick?
IT WAS MIND BLOWING SEEING ALL THE VARIATIONS!! Tobias [Bamacher] was absolutely insane with their spacewalks. Him and Erwin Shuvit have an insane hang ten spacewalk which looks like magic!
I think it’ll still be a while before I learn that so at the moment I’m desperately trying to land a 360-switchblade mid spacewalk!
Are you currently just doing freestyle or are you also working on other skate stuff?
Yes I mostly just do freestyle! I definitely wouldn’t mind doing more park or transition but the tricks I enjoy most (and have less risk of injury) are freestyle.
I’m guessing you skate on a traditional freestyle setup then? Can you tell us a bit about it?
Well coming from Australia, getting your hands on a freestyle setup isn’t very easy! For the longest time I was rocking a Santa Cruz complete…[It] was the best value and it was surprisingly decent at going into rail but nowhere near as good as a freestyle complete. I tried using cruiser wheels for a bit more axle coverage but I wouldn’t recommend that (the wheels were way too soft).
I learnt old-school kickflips on a tiny, cheap, plastic board (which is great for building confidence in a trick).
I now have a NeverEnough complete and I love it. Coming back to Australia, I’ll probably buy as many offset wheels as I can.
How has it been skating in the Netherlands, which you’ve been staying in temporarily, versus with back home?
Skating in the Netherlands has been SUCH a highlight!!
The first time going to the skatepark I was really worried about the language barrier. People would say ‘hi’ in Dutch and I wouldn’t say anything cause I was nervous about not knowing Dutch.
However that same day some of them offered to play a game of skate and I was like ‘Oooh sorry only know English’. But skating is such a universal language and it all went fine! Afterwards they …[lent me] their markers to draw on my board and I got added to a group chat! That was such an amazing day and I already felt a thousand times more connected to the skate community in the Netherlands than in Australia.
I’ve been blown away by how friendly everyone is at my local skatepark (AND IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SKATEPARK).
I haven’t risked much car park skating as I don’t think my Dutch is ready for confrontation.
Also people actually recognise freestyle in the Netherlands! Maybe they do in Australia too now (I hadn’t gone skating much for a couple of years before coming to the Netherlands).
What are the near-future skate plans?
Oooh good question!! I really want to make a video teaching some of the tricks I learnt at the World Freestyle Skateboarding Championships! I LOVE teaching!! At my uni, I tutor quite a few courses and at the skatepark I am often the one delegated to teaching new skaters!
I think skateboarding is such an interesting teaching problem. When I do a trick I’ve known for years it just feels natural. Trying to explain that to someone is really hard and something I enjoy a lot!
I think it’s especially hard to communicate it over a video where you can’t see someone’s foot positioning or board.
Having trick-tip videos was so valuable to my skating journey and I’d love to contribute!
Connect: Morgan Swaak’s first competition run was at the biggest event of the freestyle calendar, WFSC 2025 (read up on the competition’s results here). He is currently living with his spacewalking dad in the Netherlands but he’ll be back in Sydney later this year. Until then, find him on Instagram (@morgan.swaak).